Clemson Center PJ Hall Trusts God for ‘Victory’ in All Areas of Life

Published: March 29, 2024

Clemson Center PJ Hall Trusts God for ‘Victory’ in All Areas of Life

By Movieguide® Contributor

Clemson men’s basketball center forward PJ Hall has relied on his faith to sustain him amid recent struggles.

At the start of his junior season, Hall wasn’t sure if he wanted to play basketball anymore. His girlfriend’s father—one of his biggest influences—had died, and he was rehabbing from multiple injuries. The athlete knew he needed something to cling to and looked to Jesus for strength.

“I think if you try to do things alone, eventually you’re going to crumble,” Hall told WYFF. “You can do anything you want for however long you want, but eventually something is going to come along that’s bigger than you and you’re going to have to find a purpose and meaning that’s bigger than yourself. ”

Hall shares his faith anytime he has the chance. Whenever a fan asks for an autograph, he always adds Psalm 108:13 underneath.

“With God, you will gain the victory, and he will trample down your enemies,” Hall quotes. “I think that’s applicable to a lot of things in life, whether it’s sports or adversity. Whatever it may be, you can apply that to a lot of things in life and credit the Lord when you do come out on top.

“He’s gotten me through some incredibly tough times, and there’s going to be more along the way,” he said. “You always have to enjoy the mountain tops and find your way through the valley. I can’t thank God and Jesus enough for what he’s done for me.”

Now in his senior season, Hall has led his team to the Elite Eight of the NCAA March Madness tournament. However, many never thought Clemson would make it this far.

“Whenever we hear that outside noise—obviously, we want to prove people wrong—but once you start focusing on the outside stuff, that’s when you get astray from your game plan,” Hall said at a press conference.“You have to focus on your own agenda and your own style of play and just have some poise.”

“Going into this tournament, we knew that wasn’t a goal of ours to get to the tournament,” he added. “That was an expectation. Especially the talent, the experience and the veterans on this team that we have, we were very excited to obviously get here. But now it’s time to continue to work.”

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